sneak peek: josh & diana of casa de perrin

Josh and Diana Perrin are newlyweds based in Mar Vista, California, who recently combined their skills and opened Casa de Perrin, a boutique rental company that specializes in tabletop decoration and decor (you can see their work in action in the holiday issue of Rue). Josh is a photographer who lived in Russia for five years, and Diana’s most recent talent is food styling. When it comes to their personal style, they don’t set rules for their aesthetic. Rather, their home is composed of items from their past that make them smile and pieces of furniture and art that they’ve discovered together. Thanks, Diana, and thanks to Josh for the photographs! —Anne

Image above: For the longest time, Josh and I could not settle on a night stand. We just never came across one that we felt was worth the price, or fit the room, or really “called to us” in any way. When we started collecting flatware, we ended up with all these beautiful old storage boxes. Rather than getting rid of them, we decided to pile some of them up next to our bed and create our own makeshift night stand. The bedside lamp is actually an old restaurant napkin dispenser that we put a vintage Vera napkin in.

Image above: This is the door from my childhood bedroom. Growing up, I would tape concert ticket stubs, family photos, notes from friends in class, pretty much anything that represented who I was and what made me “me” onto an ever-growing giant collage. A few years ago, after remodeling the house, my father decided to ship it to me as a Hanukkah present. Now I use it to sling purses on, and whenever I’m feeling down, just looking at it always makes me laugh and cheers me up.

See more from Diana and Josh’s home after the jump . . .

Image above: Nearly every room in our home has at least one skylight, so we almost never need to turn on the light during the day. The vaulted ceilings and open floor plan make our little bungalow feel spacious and inviting at the same time.

Happy kitchens make for happy families. We just love this classic 1960s poster by famed photographer Howard Zieff. It hangs bellow the skylights at the far end of the kitchen and always gets a laugh while prompting the “where’s the best pastrami and rye in Los Angeles” conversation. (Josh’s pick is Canters.)

Image above: The La Casa de Perrin plates were a wedding gift to Josh’s parents when they got married, and were passed down to Josh when he moved out on his own. We use these plates in our home every day, so when starting Casa de Perrin, it seemed obvious what we’d call our company.

Image above: We have an affinity for industrial locker cabinets. This was a Craigslist find, and it’s the perfect solution for storing our shoes. The artist who made our wedding invitations (Amy Tan of The Treespace Studio) worked off a “master” watercolor painting that she scanned and scaled down, and afterward, we had it framed.

Image above: We repurposed old goblets and vessels for housing our ever-growing succulent and air plant collection. These maintenance-free and exotic plants bring a sense of warmth to the industrial cabinet they’re placed on.

Image above: In order to receive one of Ellen’s prized quilts, you must either get married or give birth. And just because you’ve been best friends with her son since pre-K, doesn’t mean you can skip the line.

Image above: Our puppies are like our children, so when we were dating, Josh set up a secret photo shoot with Rexy and Lulu and had these framed as a gift to me for our first anniversary. I kind of think it’s hilarious to put obvious photos over things, so we hung these above their beds, so they’d have a little space in our bedroom that was all their own. I think it was also a hint from Josh that our own bed was getting a bit crowded.

Image above: The living room is our go-to space. It centers around one of our favorite pieces, the “Axel” table/benches by the incomparable Jean de Merry design duo. In a party crunch, it can comfortably seat six overflowed from the dining room.

Image above: The previous owner of this Steelmaster was a tax accountant who used it to store all of his paperwork. We decided to leave the original drawer-pull labels on — typed manila tabs with handwritten notes and scribbles. We keep envelopes and stamps in a drawer labeled “Form 1040 Schedule R & RP Credit for Elderly,” vitamins and such in a drawer called “Depreciation.”

Image above: It’s hard to make a toilet look this beautiful, but my husband is one talented man! He shot the home of a client and dear friend, Alla Kazovsky, who had this incredible bathroom at the bottom of a cliff, beneath her backyard spa. We lined the shelf in cool-toned vintage bottles for a serene feel. I love their unearthed, bottom-of-the-ocean presence. To me, it feels clean without being stark, a place where you can truly decompress.

Image above: We originally fell for the classic design-element of the subway tiles in our guest bath because of how bright and clean they made it feel. But every time we have a guest come to stay with us, I must admit that I’m tempted to hand them a can of spray paint and say “tag away.”

Image above: Our office is pretty much a glorified closet. It’s the one room in our home that is constantly changing. Whether it’s being used as a digital darkroom or functioning as a giant food-styling kit, it is always a hub of our own creativity.

Comments

Do you do any consults — not actually taking on the decoration of a home, but consulting (at a rate that makes it worth your time), helping people create ideas that help them create the home of their dreams (and budget)? If so, how/where would a person contact you?

One more comment — re the quilts — while it’s great to celebrate exciting occasions with a quilt, there are other occasions that merit observing. I lost my son when he was 12 and constantly continue to miss his physical being, something that has his energy in it. My sister-in-law created a gorgeous denim quilt made from his bathrobe and jeans, alone with squares and cuts from my denims. You’d never know it was a denim quilt — so soft and comfortable — but most importantly, it (partially) helps meet my need for his physical presence. Just something to think about …. and beyond the emotional comfort factor, the quilt is stunning.

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